A New Pet
by elfchicks
Summary: Lucy finds a new friend. BY PRINCESS LUCY.
1. Chapter 1

**A New Pet**

_By Princess Lucy; BETA'd by Aranel Carnilino_

_Chapter One _

Saturday morning, Lucy bounced out of bed. "Wake up, Susan! It's Saturday – pancakes!"

The little girl threw on her dressing gown and ran down the hall to her brothers' room. "Wake up!" she shrieked, jumping on Peter's bed and bouncing up and down in the other bed.

Edmund groaned, pulling the covers up over his head. He was not a morning person.

Lucy was undeterred. She ran over and poked and tickled the lump that was her brother. "Come on! Wake up, sleepy head! Pancakes today… and sausages! I can smell them…."

That seemed to wake up the eleven year old considerably.

Lucy skipped out of the room and down the stairs. Susan was in the kitchen and Matthew Pevensie was at the stove.

"Hi, Daddy," she said, climbing up on a stool. "Can I help?"

Matthew tenderly turned to his eager youngest daughter. "Are your brothers up yet?" he asked, handing her the mixing bowl.

Lucy took the bowl. "Still sleeping, but I think they're coming down."

Matthew nodded and poured more batter on the griddle.

When breakfast was over, the four of them cleaned up the kitchen while their parents went to Bristol to visit an old family friend.

* * *

Lucy ran outside and knelt under a bush, looking for a toy that she had lost the day before. Suddenly, she noticed eyes and started. It was a… there was… a _puppy_! ...A puppy staring out at her with mournful eyes.

"Oh, how adorable!" Lucy crooned, gathering the trembling animal into her arms. It was mangy looking and dirty. Cradling the poor thing securely, Lucy stood up and headed toward the house.

"Look what I found!" she cried excitedly, running into the kitchen. "I'm going to name him… Tumnus."

Susan frowned. "No, you're not! You know what Mum and Dad say about pets…." She put her hands on her hips, water dripping from her fingers.

Peter and Edmund came in, having heard the sternness in Susan's voice.

"Where'd the puppy come from?" Edmund asked, surprised.

"Outside," Lucy replied. "It's hungry…." She offered it a sausage from the plate Peter was holding.

"Don't feed it!" Susan cried. "It'll think it belongs here!"

"Oh, dry up, Su," Peter said. "We can't let it starve."

Susan pursed her lips. "If Mum and Dad find out, we're going to get in so much trouble…," she warned.

"Don't you want a dog, Susan?" Edmund asked.

Susan seemed torn. "Of course I do, but maybe we should wait until Mum and Dad give permission."

Peter snorted. "Mum and Dad are _never_ going to let us have a pet. You know that."

Susan sighed, "We should at least give it a bath; it smells awful!"

Thirty minutes later, the bathroom was a mess. Water and soap were everywhere, but the puppy was clean at least. The children could see it had rust-colored fur.

"It's a cocker spaniel," Peter said, pointing to a small picture in the encyclopedia, open to "Dogs".

"It_ is_ rather cute," Susan admitted, watching the puppy sleeping peacefully on Lucy's lap. "But I think Mum and Dad will be upset if they know we have a dog."

The others looked thoughtful.

"Well, we could hide it," Edmund said with a shrug. "Just for a while… Until we can tell Mum and Dad the truth," he added, to appease Susan.

"Then it's settled," Peter said seriously. "We keep this a secret."

Everyone nodded and Lucy giggled. "Have you noticed we're now keeping two things from Mummy and Daddy – first Narnia and now a puppy?"


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: (regarding 2nd review) I know that Lucy sounds a bit young, but in this fic I have pushed their ages back a year so Peter is 14, Susan is 12, Edmund is 11, and Lucy is 8. As to why Mr. Pevensie's cooking breakfast instead of Mrs. Pevensie: it's because Saturday's a special day and I want him to (so there)... _

_Chapter Two_

"Matthew?" Helen said one evening. "Have you noticed the children are acting a bit strangely?"

Matthew continued reading the evening paper. "Are they, dear?" he asked, not really listening.

Helen sighed. "Yes. This morning, Edmund asked me if I would save the bone from the steak. When I asked why, he just shrugged and said it was a secret. And they all look so tired…"

Matthew took his eyes off the paper. "Honey, they're children. I'm sure whatever they're up to can't be that bad."

Helen looked at him. "Just talk to them, alright?"

Matthew folded up the newspaper and stood. "All right dear, I'll talk to them, although I'm sure it's nothing."

- - - - - - - - - -

"Okay," Peter said, tapping the notebook with his pen, "so this week, I have Mondays, Susan has Wednesdays, Edmund has Tuesdays, and Lucy takes Fridays, which leaves Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays open. And since we all have after-school activities and church…."

The four of them were gathered in the boys' room. Tumnus was scampering back and forth as happy as could be, jumping up and trying to lick their faces.

"We could drop them," Susan suggested.

A sudden knock on the door made them all flinch. Peter hurriedly stuffed the notebook under his pillow while Lucy raced Tumnus to the wardrobe. Closing the door most of the way (but leaving it open a crack), she turned and put a finger to her lips. "Shhhh…."

The door opened and their father entered.

"Hi, Daddy," said Lucy.

"Hi, kitten," said Matthew, smiling fondly. "Your mother wants to know what you're all up to. She says you've been behaving strangely."

"Oh, uh, nothing," stammered Peter. "We're just playing checkers."

"You have no board," Matthew pointed out.

"We mean 'we're about to', right, Peter?" Susan said hastily.

"Yeah, that's what I meant," Peter said, avoiding his father's eyes. He was a lousy liar.

"Does Mum need us?" Edmund asked, as the puppy let out a frightened bark.

"Where did that bark come from?" Matthew asked.

"Outside?" they said hopefully.

The puppy barked again.

"That sounded like it was coming from inside the wardrobe," said Matthew. To the children's dismay, he went over and opened the door. Tumnus bounded out happily and ran over to Lucy.

Matthew looked angry. "Right," he said in short, clipped tones. "Downstairs, all of you."

Hanging their heads, the four guilty children trooped downstairs.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three_

Matthew called Helen into the study.

"Lying; sneaking around! After we specifically told you four 'no pets'… Yet you go behind our backs and get a pet!"

The children had never seen their mother look so angry before. She was pacing. They could only sit there uncomfortably.

"Your mother's right." Matthew looked almost as upset as his wife. "What you children did was inexcusable."

"But, Dad, it's not what it looks like," Peter cut in hastily "I mean it _is_, but we had a good reason for disobeying you and Mum!" He looked at his younger siblings, who nodded in agreement.

"Tell us, then," Matthew said, as he and his wife waited.

Peter told them everything. "So you see we had to do something for the puppy or else it would have starved," he concluded.

Helen sighed. "That's not the point. Why didn't you just ask?"

"Because we knew you'd say 'no'," said Edmund. "You and Dad _always_ say 'no'."

Lucy was on the verge of tears as she held Tumnus tightly. "Please, Mummy and Daddy? Please can we keep him? We… we love him!" The other children nodded in agreement.

Helen and Matthew moved to the other side of the parlor to confer in hushed tones. After what seemed a very long, tense silence, they returned.

"All right," Helen sighed. "This is what you're going to do: one, you children are grounded for two months, one month for disobeying and one month for lying. And before you say one word, Edmund, let me remind you all that by not telling Daddy and me about the dog right away, you basically lied. Two, tomorrow, I am going to run an advertisement in the paper to see if anyone lost a dog. If no one claims it within two weeks, then you can keep it. Is this understood?"

The four children looked up in surprise.

"Really?!" Lucy cried eagerly.

"Am I clear?"

They nodded (what choice did they have?).

"Good," said Helen, her tone gentler. She looked at the clock. "Edmund and Lucy, get ready for bed. Susan, you and Peter finish your homework."

"Yes, Mum," said four voices in unison. The four of them trudged upstairs.

"I have never seen Mum look so angry," Susan said softly, as the four of them brushed their teeth.

Lucy scooped up Tumnus. "He's sleeping with me tonight," she said, eyeing her older siblings as if daring them to challenge her.

"I'd wait a bit until Mum and Dad aren't so angry at us," Peter said wisely. He looked toward the bathroom door.

Lucy pouted, but set Tumnus down as Peter snapped off the light.


End file.
